Lovely Experiences and New Friendships at the Pure Food Cooking Workshop

On Thursday, June 17, in the evening, we hosted at the Morningstar Center a workshop about pure food – How to Cook Sattvic Food for Body and Soul – a workshop that offers basic knowledge about how to cook the right food for a balanced state of health and a healthy, clear mind.

Although the evening began with some nervousness – we feared that the weather would change and we would have to dine indoors – the clouds dispersed and we were able to start the evening with tea in the garden, followed by the workshop.

Didi was the one who spoke to us about the different fundamental forces that govern all existence and about how we find each of them in the dishes we cook as well. Didi is the president of the AMURTEL association, which coordinates the activities of the Morningstar Center, and has been a vegetarian for over 10 years.

Thus, we have a beneficial, luminous force – the sattva force, which is found in food that feeds on solar energy (vegetables, fruits, seeds). In general, all of nature is considered sattvic, so eating pure means first of all nourishing yourself from nature, but without harming it or the habitats created by it (hence the non-carnivorous diet). We have a decomposing force, which in foods is found in meat, drugs or mushrooms. And we have a stimulating force – of change and action. Here belong foods such as chocolate, ginkgo biloba, spicy dishes, coffee or black tea. Obviously, a diet must be balanced and contain, depending on the needs of the moment, a little of each, but the most beneficial and pure diet is considered to be the sattvic one.

The theory was then put into practice by Didi, who prepared different dishes for us:

• Pasta salad with ginger and tahini sauce
• Organic tomato salad with basil and olives, with olive oil and balsamic vinegar
• Kale and tofu triangles
• Creamy parfait with organic sour cherry jam and yogurt

We could not hold back either, so soon we all ended up taking part in cleaning, cutting and portioning the vegetables. The conversations gathered more and more around the cooking table, and so the tone was set for good cheer, and the exchange of gastronomic advice and experiences was very valuable. We took turns experimenting with the most effective way to roast sesame in the wok (without scattering half of it on the floor), what browned vegetables should look like, or what sesame should smell like after being ground in the mortar.

The VIP of the evening was the vegetable kale, an increasingly popular presence in our cuisine. Rich in iron (it contains more iron than meat), in vitamins A, C, D, K, calcium, beta-carotene and antioxidants (so important for the prevention of cancer), kale is considered by vegetarians to be the new meat. It has been discovered that it contains special resins that lower the cholesterol level and minimize the absorption of fats, thus playing an important role in the prevention of cardiovascular disease. Along with the rest of the vegetables used to prepare last night’s dishes, the kale comes from the farm of the AMURTEL Aid Association, namely the social garden at Poieni, Buzău County. The garden creates opportunities for professional integration for the young people in AMURTEL’s integration program, thus offering jobs to young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, while also producing organic, natural vegetables without fertilizer. The kale leaves soon became delicious tofu triangles, which we ate together with the rest of the menu, outside, by candlelight, to the sound of crickets and under the cool eyelash of the moon.

From the park came waves of cool, fragrant air, and we all marveled at the quiet and calm of this wonderful evening, in which we made friendships, learned simple and useful things and enjoyed together the beauty of simple, pure things.

You can enjoy kale, Swiss chard or other organic, healthily grown vegetables by becoming a partner of the AMURTEL Poieni Social Farm. Every Wednesday a basket of organic seasonal vegetables can be delivered to you – for more details send an email to didi@amurtel.ro or visit https://www.facebook.com/amurtel.poieni.